//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 – Pull // Story: Pokémon Eclipse // by moviemaster8510 //------------------------------// Twilight continued staring at the table as she had done since she last talked with the princesses. The four islands had not appeared since then either, making her all the more anxious and worried. She also felt herself nodding off at times, but she was sure to get up and walk a lap or two around the table to keep her body up as well. She didn’t expect anyone to assist her in such a monotonous task, but if she sensed something wrong, she made sure the princesses would know right away. *KULUHHH* The door to the room opened up, jolting Twilight awake. She looked back to the map to see Equestria still there; nothing changed. “Uh,” a voice with a southern accent said to her left, “we’re over here, sugar.” Twilight turned to see six other ponies standing there, a light-blue pegasus with a chopped rainbow-colored mane and tail among them carrying two large paper bags in her arms, small stains of grease covering the bag. Twilight, breathed a sigh of relief, actually relieved to see her friends at this moment. “Sorry, Twilight,” said Starlight, “we know you’re busy checking the Cutie Map, we just thought you’d need some company.” “And we also brought some grub!” The rainbow pony lifted the bags up in the air, and Twilight could smell the wafting aroma of pan-fried hay, ketchup and onion. It was more than enough to alleviate her feelings of burden for a while. “Thank you, Rainbow Dash, you can go ahead and spread the food out if you want. Come to think of it, I actually am quite hungry.” “Then let’s get to it,” the southern pony responded. Her coat was a light orange with her mane and tail tied at the tips into ponytails. She also sported a brown Stetson hat atop her head. “Rarity, help Rainbow Dash pass the hayburgers.” “Of course, darling!” she replied with an English accent. With her magic, the white unicorn with the curled purple mane and tail called Rarity took one bag from Rainbow Dash’s grasp, pulling out four paper-wrapped burgers and a set of plastic silverware from it. Setting one burger and the silverware down at her spot, Rarity sat at one of the six thrones, the markings on the top of the backrest being identical as her flank: three blue gems. She set down a burger before Fluttershy’s seat, whose three-butterfly insignia matched Fluttershy’s. Hopping up into her seat, which was marked with two blue balloons with a blue one in-between them, was a pink pony with a pink, frizzled mane, right as her burger was set for her. “Thank you, Rarity!” she exclaimed with a voice as squeaky as the balloons marked on her body. “You’re most welcome, Pinkie Pie.” As Pinkie Pie already began digging into hers, wrapper and all, Rarity then set her last burger at the orange pony’s spot on the table, the back of the seat, like her rump, adorned with three red apples. “Applejack,” she addressed as they both took their seats, “that one has barbecue sauce, I trust?” Applejack unwrapped her burger and opened the top of the bun up. No barbecue sauce, just ketchup. “Naw,” she said, “I think somepony else has mine.” They couldn’t help but notice as Pinkie Pie, her meal already vanished, licked the remains of her wrapper of any sauce or melted cheese that remained. “Hey, this one had barbecue sauce. Whose burger was that?” Her eyes went to Applejack with sudden realization, and even Applejack couldn’t hold back a small frown. “Ehehe… sorry.” “…Not a problem,” Applejack said, her face calmed. “I just prefer barbecue sauce.” “I have to apologize as well,” sighed Rarity. “I should have been more mindful of the special sticker.” “I said it’s fine, Rarity. I also know that this isn’t just a casual meal with our friends. Twilight, what exactly is going on that has you all wound up?” “Thank you, Applejack. As some of you may know, I’ve noticed some strange things happening to the Cutie Map. Every so often, the map will disappear, and these four islands appear in its place. I don’t know what they are, where they are, or what’s on them.” “Are you worried that there’s some evil monster or some big, bad army there or something?” Rainbow Dash asked. “I said I’m not sure!” “Just saying, we’ve probably dealt with worse.” “For all I know, this may be a false alarm and that there’s nothing about or on these islands that we should be afraid of. My only concern is why it’s happening, or even why it’s happening now.” “Maybe the Cutie Map wants us to go on vacation!” Pinkie Pie wondered aloud. “We’ve been so busy, taking care of magic-draining centaurs, Starlight, Starlight again, protecting the Crystal Empire from eternal winter, or the return of Queen Chrysalis, maybe it’s its way of telling us, ‘Hey girls, you’ve done a real swell job out there. Go to the beach and chill for a week or two!’” “I like that idea,” Fluttershy said softly. “I sure hope that’s what it is.” “Well,” Twilight continued, “needless to say, none of us are really certain what it is. I’ve requested Cadance to help find anything she can at the Crystal Empire Library and send me anything relating to any kind of islands that no longer exist on Equestria.” “Well, not to trivialize your plight,” Rarity spoke up, “but how long have you said this has been going on?” “A week, give or take. I’m only growing more concerned because when the islands do appear, they appear for far longer each time.” “Well,” Spike mentioned, “there’s nothing there now.” “I don’t think we’d need you to tell us that, Spike,” said Rainbow Dash. “So, uh, when do these islands normally appear?” “It varies. Sometimes it happens in the morning, sometimes at night.” “But so far,” Starlight added, “we’ve only seen it happen once a day when they have appeared.” “And has it not happened already today?” asked Fluttershy. “It has, but–” “What?” Rainbow Dash blurted. “I can’t be here waiting for this thing all night! I’ve got practice tomorrow!” Applejack groaned. “No one was askin’ you or any of us, for that matter, to stay. We’re just getting a leg-up on this situation is all.” “Wait…” Everyone’s eyes turned to Pinkie Pie, who was suddenly dressed in a full pajama outfit with a sleeping cap, a pillow, and a blanket. “Does this mean we’re not sleeping over after all?” “Any of you can leave whenever you want,” said Twilight. “If you want to stay to see the islands come back, if they come back, fine. If you want to go back home, fine. I just want you to know what’s happening if this does turn out to be some kind of threat to Equestria.” Everyone, excluding Twilight, Starlight, and Spike looked to each other. “Well,” Rainbow Dash croaked out, “I don’t need to be at practice until morning, but I can stay for a couple of hours. Who knows? Maybe they’ll come back again tonight?” “Seems unlikely,” said Twilight, “but–” “Yay!” Pinkie Pie cheered, throwing her blanket and pillow into the air. “Magical Reappearing Island Hunt and Slumber Party after all!” “I might have to go home and feed Angel,” Fluttershy said, “but I can always come right back, right?” “We don’t mind staying over, do ya’ Rarity?” Applejack asked. “Didn’t hurt before!” she chirped, the two giggling over the distant memory. “And we don’t have anywhere to go, right Spike?” asked Starlight with a nudge. “Yeah, no! We’re in this together.” Twilight smiled warmly at the loyalty of her close friends, who all looked to her for further instruction. “Thanks a lot guys. We can eat our dinner while we wait.” “Sounds like a plan,” Applejack resolved, picking her burger up. Pinkie Pie tried to pick hers up, only for nothing to be there. “Oh,” she moaned, “yeah...” As the rest of the seven ate their food, they also kept watch over the Cutie Map, eager to see any changes that might occur to it. Alice and Sam climbed the hilly road of Route 2, managing to see a Pokémon Center up at the top. The sun was just about to set off to the west, and they still had time to go out and search for more Pokémon before it would get too dark and dangerous to travel. Sam had his Pokédex out, reading the enlarged map on the screen as the two of them turned to ascend the last hill before they reached the Pokémon Center. “And it looks like Verdant Cavern is right across from the Center,” he said. “We can sleep the night there, have some breakfast at the café, and do our first trial if we wanted.” “You think you’re already ready for it?” she asked. “Honedge and I got a lot of grinding in. I think we’ll be fine.” The two of them were finally on level ground, and approaching the Pokémon Center to the left, which stood on the edge of a cliff at the northwest corner of the island. Turning to the right, they looked upon the large entrance to the cave where the first trial was supposedly held. The entrance was decorated with tall, wooden totems on both sides of the path to the cavern held up by colored triangular supports and a bed of rocks. “So that’s it then,” Sam said with awe. “Big fancy entrance that resembles our amulets,” Alice replied in the same style of voice, “pretty sure it’s not.” Sam rolled his eyes at Alice’s inability to allow him his moment. “Alola!” called a tenor voice from behind. The two turned around to see a young man a few years older than Sam with light-brown skin standing on the middle rail of the banister for the base the Pokémon Center was on, facing the two. He then climbed over the rail and hopped down. As he approached the two, his features were more definable. He wore a white, short-sleeved collared shirt beneath a beige vest with brown diamond patterns around the waist and back along with white floods and white loafers with brown soles. His hair was bright pink and medium length with a small pigtail along the left side. On his right wrist was a Z-Ring, and on his left hand was an odd leather glove with only two fingerless slots for the index and ring fingers. Despite his dapper appearance, his body looked well toned beneath his clothes. “Greetings, my fellow trainers,” he said. “My name is Ilima, and I am the Trial Captain for Verdant Caverns here on Melemele Island.” Alice reached for his hand first, and was not too surprised to see him reach with his right hand as if he had to think to do it. “Southpaw?” she asked. “Yes, I am indeed left-handed.” Ilima then reached for Sam’s hand, which they both shook. “I’ve not seen either of you before. Are you by chance new to Alola?” “We are, actually,” Sam said, “we moved here today.” “Moved? I must say, it pleases me to welcome two new residents to Melemele. Though I feel I’m being a bit presumptuous. You did move to Melemele, right? Or are you here to challenge my trial?” “Yes to both,” Alice said. “That’s wonderful! Are you two ready to take the challenge now? There’s still enough daylight for you to do so if you so wish.” Alice and Sam looked to each other, and Alice gave him a shrug as if to grant him the choice. “Actually,” Sam said, “we’re still getting used to everything, and we were just taking a small hike and catching Pokémon before we rest for the night.” “I see. I only wished to warn you as I close my trial come nightfall. The Pokémon inside like to spend as much time battling as they do sleeping, you see.” “Story of my life,” Alice replied. “Hahaha! Yes, quite. I don’t want to take up much more of your time, but there are quite a few good Pokémon to capture at the Melemele Meadow. It’s just past the canyon pass once you continue on to Route 3. If you hurry, you might get a good half hour in before you need to return by dark, that is, unless you brought an Electric-type with you.” “Well, what a coincidence! I caught a Pikachu this very afternoon!” “Congratulations, you’re already well-equipped. I shouldn’t bother you any longer, but may I first have your names?” “Alice.” “Sam,” he said. “I’ll continue to be here tomorrow should you want to come by and take my challenge. Perhaps I’ll even allow you to take it together. How does that sound?” Sam now looked to Alice and gave her the shrug of decision. “Yeah,” she responded to Ilima. “That sounds neat!” “Very good. We’ll be ready then. Farewell!” Ilima then sprinted off back to the Pokémon Center, but rather than take the stairs, he ran up the wall to the base of the Pokémon Center and grabbed hold of the banister, climbing it the rest of the way. Once he was over, he walked calmly inside the Center. “Interesting kid,” Sam said. “One way to describe him,” agreed Alice. “Well, you heard him, let’s give this Melemele Meadow a try.” The two continued their way east, a little disappointed to see yet another hilly climb before them. Sun stood on the edge of a balcony from the Aether Paradise, hands firmly placed on the banister as he looked north towards the near-endless sea with the four islands of Alola not far away in the distance, watching the sun dip beneath the horizon and shade the sky with purple and orange. “Sun,” called the voice of Lillie from behind him, “we’re ready now.” He turned around to see her standing in the entryway. “Alright,” he said, grabbing his own lab coat hanging from the banister. “Coming.” With one swing around, Sun slipped his arms through both sleeves of the coat, and with a pull on the lapels, it was on straight. By now, the ponies and Spike had finished their burgers, and while the faint possibility of the return of the islands still lingered, the possibility was still just that: faint. By now, they were all laughing as they told about stories of their past, most of which were directed at Starlight, who had never even heard these tales before since she joined their circle. “You should have seen Fluttershy,” Pinkie exclaimed. “She got all angry and then she turned huge! Like, HUGE!!” “And thanks to her,” Spike said, “we defeated the Mane-iac and we all got to go home.” “That was a really weird day,” Rainbow Dash recounted, “but it was still kind of cool.” “I wonder what even happened to that comic. It wasn’t in that room I left it in when I got back.” As Spike continued on, Twilight noticed the Cutie Map start to flicker quickly away, the four islands taking its place. “Girls!” she shouted. “It’s happening.” The jovial air of their get-together came to an abrupt halt as the four of them looked to the table and were amazed by what they were seeing. “Holy Toledo,” Applejack breathed. “This is strange.” “Th– This is nuts!” Rainbow Dash sputtered. “Do the princesses even know about this?” “Princesses…” For a fleeting moment, Twilight had completely forgotten what needed to be done. “The princesses! Spike, alert them right away!” “Got it!” Spike grabbed his quill and paper and began writing away. Sun was ecstatic. After long last, he could finally do what he had wanted to do all week. “Solgaleo, Lunala,” Sun instantly called to the creatures. “Get a little lower!” As Spike continued his letter, the islands in the map suddenly enlarged, cutting off the east half of Ula’ula Island and the west half of Poni Island. The seven girls couldn’t help but shriek a little at the sight, making Spike drop his things. “What just happened?” Fluttershy whined. “Please tell me it’s done that before!” Twilight didn’t know how to respond to her. For all she cared to know, whatever she feared or wondered would happen was now happening. “Spike,” she stammered. “Tell the princesses to hurry. The image of the islands enlarged.” Spike scrambled to grab the quill and paper and hold them right, continuing on with the letter. Twilight looked to the islands more, noticing the towering building that floated in the ocean south of them. “Alright guys,” Sun said with a hint of playfulness, “you both did great today. Go ahead and ease down–” Sun’s command was interrupted by a whine from Lunala, who appeared to sway. Sun looked down at the pool, and was bemused to see that they were receding lower into the dust-cloud, quickly encroaching on a planet down below. “Solgaleo, Lunala, stop!” “This isn’t right,” Lillie whimpered. The image began enlarging again, pushing the islands out of frame with the center of focus on the Aether Paradise. This time it wouldn’t stop. “Twilight…” Rainbow Dash moaned, concerned. Twilight slid off her throne and stood her front hooves on the table, leaning in for a closer look. The other ponies did the same, intrigued enough to observe the Aether Paradise as it continued getting bigger, threatening to hit the top. Spike also was compelled to look, stopping his writing of the letter and peering just over the table to see the map’s vision phase through the top and head to the pool where Sun, Lillie, and Lusamine were watching. Neither pony nor the dragon had time to notice the alien beings standing in the room or hooked to the machines before they could then see the pool observing them observing the pool in an infinite loop before the entire perimeter of the pool matched the perimeter of the table. Suddenly, a massive pulse of energy threw each of them into the walls of the room, and they each landed flat on their stomachs. Now the surface of the table was just a bright light with thin rays of energy bouncing up and down from it. Twilight rolled to her stomach to see Spike weakly getting to his own two feet. “Spike!” she screamed. “The letter! Just send it!” Spike saw the letter before him get picked up off the ground and start to fly away towards the table. Before it could get away, Spike reached for it, pinching one of the corners with his claws. The paper only tore out of his hand as Twilight and Spike watched with sheer fright as it was then violently sucked into the light from the center. “The letter!” Spike cried. “It… went through the table!” The other ponies had just gotten up, feeling their manes and tails being pulled towards the table like a strong wind. “What’s happening now!” Rarity shouted. “Girls, come to me!” ordered Twilight. The ponies fought the pull and galloped to their friend and huddled around her. “Hold on tight,” she said, charging her horn. “We need to get out of here first.” Twilight’s horn flashed with light, and the ponies closed their eyes, waiting to be outside where it was safe. To everyone’s horror, they still felt pulling and then heard the wail of the portal before them. Opening their eyes, they found that their ears and hair weren’t deceiving them. “Twilight?” Starlight said with quivering. “Why didn’t the teleportation work?” “I…” Twilight never thought she’d be stumped like this. “I don’t know.” Solgaleo and Lunala, their pink-glowing foreheads and eyes still bright, let out another screech. Suddenly, the vacuum was tremendous. Rarity was flung off the floor and flew towards the table screaming. Before she could get sucked in, she felt a sharp pain in the base of her tail as she was hovering over the table, which now resembled a grid-like tunnel looking straight up to the ceiling of the research area of Aether Paradise. “Uhh guut yuuh!” Applejack shouted through her teeth, which were clamped onto Rarity’s tail. Pinkie Pie hid behind Twilight’s throne, looking around to see Rainbow Dash, try and fly away from the pull, only managing to stay stationary in the air. Fluttershy was also thrown towards the portal, but a turquoise aura covered her and kept her afloat. Fluttershy watched as Starlight strained to hold the yellow pegasus in place while anchoring herself to the outer edge of the table. Twilight managed to pull Spike to her and cover themselves in a magenta dome, resisting the effects of the pull. “Twilight!” cried Spike. “How are we going to get out of here?!” “We’ll just have to hold out a bit more.” Twilight managed to pull a loose paper and Spike’s quill, which were stuck under the table, into their bubble. She quickly wrote a single word: HELP, to it. Spike then breathed a puff of green fire onto it, where it engulfed the paper and then shrunk into nothingness, leaving no trace of either. Twilight turned to see the desperate situation her friends were in, coming close to tears with her inability to help them. Just then, Applejack’s footing slipped, which caused her and Rarity to tumble into the air and get pulled in through the portal. “Applejack!” Twilight shrieked. “Rarity!” Spike cried. Rainbow Dash felt her strength give out watching her two friends disappear inside, suddenly losing the will to fight. Pinkie Pie saw this and couldn’t handle it. “Rainbow Dash!” she cried out, leaping from behind the throne and grabbing Rainbow Dash as the two of them were sucked inside. “NO!” Twilight’s voice warbled, becoming hoarse and nearly useless. Starlight continued to hold on to Fluttershy, but gasped in terror as she felt the magic in her horn crackle and weaken. With a final strain, she held onto Fluttershy a moment longer before her mind and body gave out and the two of them were pulled inside, leaving Twilight and Spike alone with the portal. Twilight and Spike couldn’t scream anymore, and only began to sob ugly tears over the loss of their friends. Just then, Twilight felt her horn sparkle too, the dome protecting them flickering away. With a deep breath, Twilight found the strength to compose herself and sit down, sending Spike sliding to the floor. “Twilight?” he mumbled. “What are you–” She quickly turned around and gave him a tight hug, her tears streaming down her face and onto his back. “I can’t hold on for much longer Spike,” she croaked. “I don’t know what will happen to us, but no matter what, no matter where we end up, know that I love you so very much!” It was so much for Spike to take in, but finally accepting his fate, he clutched to Twilight’s neck and held himself close. “I love you too, Twilight.” They both shut their eyes tight. The magic finally gave out, and the dome disappeared. Twilight and Spike were launched into the air, and as light shone through their eyelids, they suddenly felt a tremendous pull down and then up. Everything went black.